[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/amethyst_princess_of_gemworld_6_5844.jpg]][[caption-width-right:350:Yes, she had a winged unicorn too.]]

''Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld'' was a comic book series about a little girl who discovers that she is really the ruler of a magical world, and must return there to defeat the tyrant who now rules it.

Amethyst began as a 12-issue maxi-series by writers Dan Mishkin and Gary Cohn and artist Ernie Colon in 1983. It proved popular enough that it was given its own regular series that lasted until 1985. Despite several similarities, Amethyst predates both ''WesternAnimation/SheRaPrincessOfPower'' and ''Manga/SailorMoon''.

In the story, Amy Winston was a normal 13-year-old girl who was one day taken to the Gemworld, situated in another dimension. There she finds out that she is actually Princess Amethyst, daughter of the rightful rulers of that land. However her parents were killed by the evil Dark Opal when she was a baby, and she only survived because their servant, Citrina, brought her to Earth, where she was adopted by the Winstons. Due to the way time works on Gemworld, Amy finds herself transformed into a 20-year-old woman while there, and the rebellion fighting against Opal's rule wants her to lead them. Amy thus finds herself splitting her time between her normal life on Earth and her secret adventures on the Gemworld.

Other characters in the series include: the two Princesses Emerald, who become Amy's best friends; the handsome Prince Topaz, whom Amethyst falls in love with; Lady Turquoise, an ally who also becomes a rival for Topaz's feelings, and Carnelian, Dark Opal's "son" who turns out to be a boy from Earth raised on Gemworld. (Like Amy, he reverts to his true age on Earth.) Despite the fairy tale trappings, ''Amethyst'' was an action/fantasy series, and some characters actually die in battle. Still, Amethyst's forces triumph in the end and Opal is killed.

In the regular series, Amy goes back to living on Earth but continues to have adventures on Gemworld. The Love Triangle was eventually resolved in Turquoise's favor, probably to avoid the issue of Amy's relationship with a much older boy.

After the original creators left, it was decided by DC to boost Amethyst's sales by tying her to the rest of the DCUniverse, in particular the war between the Lords of Order and Chaos, which was a major plotline at the time. But the new stories, written by Keith Giffen and Mindy Newell, shifted entirely from fantasy adventure to horror. Amethyst was blinded; found out that she was actually the product of an illicit affair between a Lord of Order and her mother; several characters met horrible deaths (in particular, Carnelian's [[spoiler:who almost dies giving "birth" to his father Opal,]] was pure horror) and ultimately, Amethyst is forced to merge with a Lord of Chaos in order to save the Gemworld. The series was then, very unsurprisingly cancelled.

Amethyst has since then made a few reappearances, but they have been very inconsistent. In one story, she was now a villain, who tried to conquer the Gemworld herself. More recently, during the Infinite Crisis CrisisCrossover, she was seen again, with no explanations of her current status.

Note: Another story established that the Gemworld would one day enter our universe, becoming Zerox, the "Sorcerers' World" from ComicBook/{{Legion of Super-Heroes}} mythos.

It should also be noted that, since she was the only Lord of Order to survive Infinite Crisis (with all but one of the Lords of Chaos also dying), Amethyst was consequently one of the two most powerful magic-users in the DCU.

Amethyst was initially the main feature in ''Sword of Sorcery'', a Comicbook/{{New 52}} anthology comic series that launched in September 2012. This version started things over from scratch with 17 year-old Amy learning her true identity for the first time after a life on the road with her mother. This was significantly DarkerAndEdgier than previous versions of the character (her first action scene had her stopping a group of would-be rapists from raping a girl), and only lasted eight issues.

The series gained some [[WesternAnimation/AmethystPrincessOfGemworld animated shorts]] based on Amethyst were added to the WesternAnimation/DCNation block on Creator/CartoonNetwork. See that trope page for more info.

Not to be confused with Amethyst of the [[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse Crystal Gems]].

-----!!'''Tropes in the comic:'''* AbusiveParents: While not his biological father, the treatment Carnelian receives from Opal is nothing shy of abusive.* ActionPet: Taffy's first accomplishment upon entering gemworld? Tearing out a wolf's throat.* AdorablyPrecociousChild: Prince Topaz, though he's more of a young adult than boy.* AllYourPowersCombined: Dark Opal's ultimate aim was to fashion a piece of armor with shards of each of the totem gems of the various ruling houses and become supremely powerful.* AmbiguouslyEvil: Sardonyx. He's an extremely unpleasant fellow who was a loyal follower of Dark Opal. But he's later seen in a slightly more positive light when concerned about the well being of his family and kingdom.* AnotherDimension* AnyoneCanDie: Not so much in the first series, but after [[spoiler:Granch]], all bets were off.* ArrangedMarriage: Prince Topaz initially has a politically-driven betrothal with Lady Sapphire, but backs out at the last minute.* AttemptedRape: Twice in the first two issues.* BadassAdorable: The "Little Princess Emerald".* BadassCrew: The twelve royal houses of Gemworld, or more accurately. The houses that allied with Princess Amethyst.* BattleCouple: ''Many.'' Examples include Amethyst and Topaz,[[spoiler: Amethyst and Garnet, and later Topaz and Turquoise.]]* BigBad: Dark Opal, in the original series. Fire Jade in the first eight issues of the regular series.* BecauseDestinySaysSo* BodyHorror: The second series goes into overdrive on this, especially [[spoiler: Carnelian]]* BreakoutCharacter: What Amethyst's creators had originally intended her to be. Needless to say, it didn't work out exactly the way they would have wanted.* ButtMonkey: Poor Prince Carnelian, we'd probably feel more sorry for him if he weren't such an [[AssholeVictim ass]] all the time.* ChangelingFantasy* ColorCodedStones: The comic naturally has this trope in play. [[GracefulLadiesLikePurple Guess what color]] [[SupernaturalIsPurple the eponymous]] [[PurpleIsPowerful character is?]]* ContinuityNod: When Amethyst learns how to form shields with her magic she compares it to Wonder Woman's bracelets. Makes sense with how there's a very prominent poster of the Amazon Princess on her bedroom wall at home.* CoolHorse: A winged unicorn!* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses* EvilCounterpart: Carnelian, to Amethyst* EvilCostumeSwitch: [[spoiler:From Lady Emerald, to Fire Jade]].* EvilSorcerer: Dark Opal, Fire Jade* ExpressiveAccessory: Dark Opal's cloak pin.* FantasyCounterpartCulture: the Gemworld's various kingdoms are based on ancient Earth cultures; it is revealed midway through the mini-series that [[spoiler: the Gemworlders are actually refugees from Earth's ancient times, who fled to the Gemworld after a celestial event altered how magic works in Earth's dimension]].* FantasyGunControl: Averted; Carnelian uses Earth technology, including guns, to compensate for his lack of magical ability.* FantasyWorldMap: The comics provided one. Turns out the Gemworld is flat.* FairyTaleMotifs: One time Amy told a story full of these to some kids she was babysitting. It was steeped in fairytale tropes.* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Once Princess Topaz declares herself "Lady", her kingdom doesn't do so well from then on.* HeirClubForMen: Dark Opal has repeatedly attempted to get himself an heir, but his children are all misshapen and he locks them away in another dimension, except Granch, who understandably rebels against him.* HighFantasy* IconicItem: Amy's Amethyst pendant.* IJustWantToBeNormal: After defeating Dark Opal, rather than sticking around and ruling Gemworld, Amethyst decides to go back to Earth and be plain old Amy Winston instead. Invoked again at the end of the second series [[spoiler: because of her bitterness at Prince Topaz hooking up with another girl]].* LaResistance* LoadBearingBoss: [[spoiler:Dark Opal's fortress collapses on him when he's mortally wounded, though it had been weakened during the battle.]]* LoveAtFirstSight: Topaz falls for Amethyst the instant he sees her. [[spoiler: He ends up with a different princess, though.]]* LoveTriangle* MagicallyBindingContract: Dark Opal talks Sardonyx into signing one for him; as you can imagine, it doesn't turn out very well for him.* MagicalGirl: Amethyst can be considered an early combination of both the CuteWitch and MagicalGirlWarrior types.* MagicalLand* MuggleFosterParents: The Winstons are this to Amethyst, or rather Amy.* ObviouslyEvil: Dark Opal.* OffingTheOffspring: [[spoiler:Dark Opal]] and [[spoiler:Granch]].* OlderAlterEgo* OrderVersusChaos* OvernightAgeUp* PostScriptSeason: The regular series.* RedemptionEarnsLife: [[spoiler:Carnelian and Sardonyx]].* SacrificialLion: [[spoiler: Granch]], whose death causes Amethyst to realize just how serious this is and how evil Dark Opal truly is.* SwissArmySuperpower: The Gem-based magic.* TemporaryLoveInterest: [[spoiler: Topaz for Amethyst]].* TheDogBitesBack* TheObiWan: Citrina* ThemeNaming: Gemworld royalty are normally referred to by their royal title and house name--i.e., the series lead is properly known as Princess Amethyst, her birth parents were Lord and Lady Amethyst, etc. Becomes a bit confusing when royal houses have several children of the same gender; in the original mini-series alone, there were three princesses of the House of Emerald, all of which were named as "Princess Emerald" by lifelong Gemworlders (Amethyst would later nickname the youngest princess "Emmy" to differentiate her).** In the third series, the children of the House of Topaz are referred to with individual names by their parents; either Gemworld conventions changed in the years between the second and third series, or possibly they are personal names are only used within the families of the individual houses.* WakeUpGoToSchoolSaveTheWorld* WorldOfHam: Gemworld.* TheWisePrince: Prince Garnet

!! Tropes in the Sword of Sorcery comic

* ActionMom: Our heroine learned all her warrior skills from mom.* AlienLunch: At their first dinner on Gemworld, Amaya is uneasy about eating lizard on a stick, a delicacy on Gemworld.* BadassPrincess: Amaya and Ingvie. On earth, Amaya fought off three jocks who were [[AttemptedRape trying to rape a girl]].* BaldWomen: The Females of house Onyx, the lesser ranking members still have some hair.* BareYourMidriff: Princess Ingvie and her archers of House Citrine.* BigBad: Lady Mordiel, who is Graciel's sister and Amaya's aunt. She wants to [[CainAndAbel kill her sister]] and adopt her niece as an heir so she can have all the magic power of House Amethyst for herself.* CoversAlwaysLie: Unusually common for a modern comic, the covers often feature events that are absolutely nothing like, or even completely opposite to, what happens in the issue.* [[DangerousSixteenthBirthday Dangerous Seventeenth Birthday]] / TheHerosBirthday: On her seventeenth birthday, Amy's mother makes good on her promise to take her to their real home. Little did Amy know was that her real home was on Gemworld and that she is a princess of House Amethyst.* DarkIsEvil: Eclipso* DarkIsNotEvil: House Onyx, like all the other houses, has good and evil members, their aesthetic is just dark.* DarkSkinnedRedhead: The people of House Citrine.* DelinquentHair: On Earth, Amy dyed her hair [[MulticoloredHair blue, pink, and black]], which made her classmates think she's a freak.* DrunkWithPower: The reason why [[{{Superempowering}} power-sharing]] is dangerous. During the power-sharing ceremony between Lady Graciel and Princess Amaya, Lady Mordiel [[BrainwashedAndCrazy gets into Amaya's mind]] and tempts her into killing her mother and take all the power for herself. Fortunately, Amaya's [[PowerOfLove love for her mother]] snaps her out of it. * EnemyMine: [[spoiler:Mordiel ends up joining force with Graciel and Amaya against Eclipso.]]* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Lady Mordiel has her capturing a peasant girl with a small fraction of the blood power. She talks to her pleasantly and casually murders her to absorb that vestigal of power, then she orders the girl's family to be suitably compensated.* GivenNameReveal: On Gemworld, Amy learns that her true name is Amaya and that her mother's name is Graciel.* GuysSmashGirlsShoot: ** The archers and swordsmen of House Citrine are all female and male, respectively. ** Averted with the women of House Amethyst, who like to get up close and personal with their enemies.* [[HiredGuns Hired Assassins]]: In issue #3, Lady Mordiel offers two Shadow-Walkers of House Onyx a contract to kill Lady Graciel. If they suceed, their reward will be a pair of powerful portal crystals that will allow them to go anywhere.* HorseOfADifferentColor: The resident mounts on Gemworld are vyala, which look like multicolored winged lions with tusks.* HowDoIShotWeb:** Even with her mother's training, Amaya is not fully prepared for combat on Gemworld. In her first swordfight, she is horrified when she kills the attacking swordsman and couldn't think straight in the heat of battle.** Once she is given the magic of House Amethyst, Amaya has to be trained to use it to her full potential.* LadyOfWar: [[BigGood Lady Graciel]] and [[BigBad Lady Mordiel]]* LightIsNotGood: House Amethyst and House Diamond are no diffrent from all the other houses, there are good members and there are bad members, the power and status are just to be used as the user wants.* LonersAreFreaks: Amy, on Earth. She used to try to fit in, but gave up around sixth grade. She was even called Freaky Amy by her classmates.* MagicalGirlWarrior: Lady Graciel. Princess Amaya becomes one after Graciel [[{{Superempowering}} shares her power with her]].* MysticalWhiteHair: All the house of Diamond royalty, with only the crown prince having WhiteHairBlackHeart.* NobleDemon: Lady Mordiel is undiscutably power-hungry and evil, but she ''does'' have some moral standards. When killing a girl with a small fraction of her family blood to absorb her power, she has the family compensated for the loss, and when she later arrives on a battlefield, she has the bodies of her sister's followers be properly buried. She also [[spoiler:[[EvenEvilHasStandards rejects Eclipso's offer to join him]].]]* OutsideContextVillain: [[spoiler:Eclipso. Until his arrival, the entire plot of the series resolves around a [[Series/GameOfThrones Game of Throne-esque]] politic struggle between Mordiel and the rest her family, with most Houses having various positions toward the whole thing. Then this ancient enemy comes back from Earth and proceeds to MindControl two of the house, essentially becoming the new threat and forcing Mordiel into an alliance with her family.]]* PeopleOfHairColor: In Gemworld, a person's lineage and House allegiance can be traced by their hair and eye color. For example, Princess Amaya's blonde hair and PurpleEyes indicate that she's from the House Amethyst. Those with brown hair and grey eyes are neutral and can't take sides.* PowerDyesYourHair: Inverted. On Earth, Amy's mother dyed their hair to hide their true heritage. When they enter Gemworld, the power within them is too strong to hide their true hair colors, which reveals their natural blonde hair. It also [[PowerMakesYourHairGrow lengthened their hair past their shoulders]].* PurpleIsPowerful / SupernaturalIsPurple: Not only do the women of House Amethyst wear purple, the magic of House Amethyst is purple.* RoyalBlood: Since Lady Mordiel is barren, Princess Amaya is the only heir to House Amethyst. Part of the conflict is that Mordiel wants to raise Amaya as her own to rule House Amethyst with an iron fist.* SpikesOfVillainy: Lady Mordiel's helmet is adorned with menacing spikes.* SwissArmySuperpower: The [[RoyaltySuperpower magic of House Amethyst]]. Users of the magic not only have SuperStrength, but can create constructs like claws and shields.* TransformationTrinket: Amaya can use her amethyst necklace to shift between her Gemworld outfit and her Earth clothes.* TranslatorMicrobes: Amaya is given a gem that fires a beam at her forehead, giving her the command of all languages, including nilaian, the language of Nilaa, AKA Gemworld.* YearOutsideHourInside: Downplayed. When Amaya comes back to Earth in issue #4, it's only been a week since she left, which is about a day longer than she's been on Gemworld.* WhatMeasureIsAMook: All the minions and soldiers mean something. Amy almost vomits after her first kill. The mate of one of the dead barbarians comes after the house seeking revenge. Hadran distinguishes himself from his brother by having respect for the soldiers under him, and everyone makes an effort to not kill any brainwashed soldiers.** This comes up when Amy fights two rogue onyx agents. She kills one attacker, and the other angrily claims she killed her brother, Amy points out that they're trying to kill her mother.* YoureNothingWithoutYourPhlebotinum: In one issue a corporate witch steals Amaya's pendant, thinking it's the source of her powers. Perhaps to let everyone know this is different from the original comic, it only [[UnlimitedWardrobe lets her change her outfit into whatever she wants]], her real power is intrinsic, and she promptly conjures up some some weapons and starts smashing her way free.